


In lieu of flowers

by mutio_T



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Bosselot, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:48:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27209890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mutio_T/pseuds/mutio_T
Summary: 【CAUTION】・This is the story of Ocelot getting pregnant.【OTHER】・They're all good friends in MB.・What's a Doublethink?・BB is quite an asshole.・Quiet is so cute.
Relationships: Big Boss/Ocelot (Metal Gear), Big Boss/Ocelot/Venom Snake, Ocelot/Venom Snake (Metal Gear)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	In lieu of flowers

"Gaining altitude!"

Peakod said, and the helicopter began to rise. Venom sat in his seat with his body covered in his blood and dust. He will now return to Mother Base for the first time in a long time. When he gets back, he wants to take a shower, eat some food and get a good night's sleep. He was unusually very tired.  
But then iDOROID received a call. It didn't belong to anyone at Mother Base; any contact to iDOROID would be intercepted on any device or another line. Venom answered it suspiciously.

"Who are you?"  
"Long time no see. Ahab."  
"You...."  
"I'm Ishmael. I need you to retrieve one of the prisoners. I'll send you the pickup point."

After telling him that much, that communication was cut off. Instead, his terminal received a string of numbers showing the longitude and latitude.  
Venom wondered. Tentatively, he would direct Peakod to that point. In the meantime, he tried to contact the command center to get the opinion of his men.

"Did you hear what he just said? What do you think of that?"  
"It could be a trap. Ignore it, Boss. We can't have another nasty one coming in."

Miller blunt it at all. He must have been referring to the boys at that time. Moreover, we had no idea purpose of prisoner. To Venom, his opinion seemed to be spot on.  
But Ocelot was simply silent.

"......"  
"Ocelot. What do you think?"

Venom wanted to hear his opinion of course, as he looked at things from a perceptive perspective. So, he waited for his answer.

"Boss. What do you think?"  
"It's not. Ocelot...."  
"I'll leave it to you to decide. Boss."

Ocelot turned the transceiver off. That was just before Miller started to get furious.

"Does he take the job seriously?!"  
"We can't blame him for now. Kaz. I'll go there."  
"Right. I'll support you in his place. Be careful. Boss.”

Ocelot had been pregnant for about ten months. But he was still on duty, even though he was past his last month. Is he going to give birth on the battlefield like his mother? He was doing his usual staff training and sedentary work as usual with his big belly. Still, his gun skills never slowed down. His staff had seemed confused at first by his appearance, but these days they all seemed to care about him. For what it's worth, they are all family.  
We don't know who the parents of the child in his belly are. He himself doesn't want to talk about it. So, no one knew about it. That's true for Venom, too. But one thing Venom has an idea about it. But that, too, was just his imagination if Ocelot didn't mention it.  
Venom headed to his destination. He was about six hundred feet from the landing zone. The man was wearing a burlap sack over his head. He was dressed in a simple field outfit, one wrist was connected to a tree next to him by handcuffs, and his feet were bound with a rough rope. When Venom tried to check his face, the man shook his head and didn't like it.

"Wait, wait. I have no intention of harming you. Who are you?"

The man chuckled under the linen.

"I've been waiting for you. Ahab."  
"You are..."  
"Get me out of here."

Venom carried the man and placed him in the chopper that was waiting in the landing zone. He then called out to Peakod, "Wait a minute," and closed the chopper door and radioed his men.

"Objective secured. Hey! ...Ocelot! Do you hear me?!"  
"We can't. Boss. He's not answering."  
"We're coming back!"

Shortly, Venom boarded the chopper with a bitter look on his face.

*

"Take him to the interrogation room."

Venom and Miller interrogated the man with the linen cloth on his head. Because he couldn't communicate with Ocelot. His body would not be able to get far. But perhaps Ocelot know who this man is. It was the same with Venom himself. That's why he didn't take the burlap sack the man wore over his head.  
"Who are you!? What do you want!?"  
Miller kicked the chair the man sat in with his foot. Venom stopped him.

“Kaz. Don't. Probably he is....”  
"Boss?  
"Don't you understand? What are you doing here after all this time sir?"

Venom's words seemed to be the first time Miller had noticed this.

"After all this time...? No way..."

Miller's face twisted in anger. Perhaps it would have been better not to let him see him. Really, Venom thought, why now?

"I want to get in touch with that man."

Miller's face turned red at the sound of the man's voice. Venom continues, holding Miller down as he looks like he's about to hit the man in front of him.

"That man ......?"  
"You know him well."  
"You can't get in touch with him?"  
"I haven't heard from him in over six months now."  
"So that's what happened."  
"Where is he?"  
"I don't know. He's probably turned off his transceiver. I haven't been able to reach him for a while now."  
“What happened to him?”  
"Haven't you informed of anything from him? Unfortunately, we can't tell you. We're not sure what's going on, either. You'd be better off getting the details directly from him."

Venom instructed over the transceiver.

"This is HQ! Security! Gather as many people as you can and find Ocelot. In some cases, house him on the medical platform. Medical team D! Get ready the emergency patient intake! Over!"  
"This is Medical Team D, Boss!"  
"This is HQ! What?"  
"We were kept silence, but it's very likely that his due date will be accelerated."  
"What? I'm not listening to that! Isn't that still a long way off!"  
"Yes, sir! He's body is older and more unstable than a younger one."  
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"  
"I'm sorry sir! It was his order."  
"OK. We'll hurry up on the search for him. Continue getting ready with the patient intake! Over."

And Venom yelled over the transceiver to the team he had just asked to search for him.

"All teams, hurry up the search! He hasn't gone far!"  
"What is he doing?! Is he an idiot?! Base Development Team! Who has a free hand! "

Miller also yelled over the transceiver at his men. He usually complained, but Miller was worried about him, too.  
The man in the burlap bag seemed to be listening to their exchange. Venom sighed and looked at the man.

"What a time to come. Boss,"  
"What's going on?"  
"Weak cats will want to run away if they feel threatened."  
"Running away? From me? What the hell happened to him? I have no idea what's going on here."

Venom removed the man's cloth bag. For the first time in hours, the air directly against his face was refreshing. Snake shook his head and brushed his hair from his face.

"You son of a bitch!"  
"Kaz. Later. Hey, Boss. When's the last time you saw that? You said earlier that it was more than six months."  
"THAT? How dare you speak to me? You want to say he's already yours?"  
"No, sir. I just want to be sure that as doctor."  
"That was about a year ago."

Venom sighed loudly again. Because his own thoughts had been mostly correct.

“That's been sick since then. Still the case. That's probably afraid you'll find out about it."  
“You think I'm going to blame that being unwell? I'll care that, but I'm not going to whip a sick man into shape!”

Venom was at a loss to tell him any more about the situation. Perhaps if Snake saw Ocelot, he wouldn't be able to say that.

“Boss. Don't be angry when you see that. The Diamond Dogs have had large enough, and we'll be on the receiving end of you guys too.”

Miller spoke up to Venom, who didn't hesitate to say a few words of forgiveness to Snake.

“Boss!”  
“Kaz, hit us later.”

Venom stopped Miller, who was about to explode with rage, with a calm voice, and with a pained expression on his face, Venom confronted Snake. Snake had no idea what the Venom's words meant.

"This is Security Team B, under the research platform bridge! We've foun...."  
"Hey! Quiet! Don't do th...."

A transmission comes in from the radio, but there is apparently a commotion going on at the source. They hear the sound of an anesthesia gun being fired from a suppressor, and each time their voices are cut off one by one.

"Hmm... A research platform. But it's a pain in the ass with Quiet"

Perhaps Quiet, sensing Ocelot's will, was guarding him. But it was a relief to them that he wasn't alone.

“This is HQ! Don't be reckless against Quiet! We'll be coming to you. Quiet! No! What if he hit by a stray bullet from the staff! The tranquilizer gun is a danger to him now! Don't move from there!”

Venom looked like he had no choice and cut the rope on Snake's limbs with his knife.

"Boss. Let's go get us too."

Snake checked his free limbs. Miller angrily yelled into the transceiver. As he watches them, Venom thinks he's forgotten all about taking a shower.

*  
Under the bridge where so many pipes were gathered, Ocelot struggled to curl up underneath the bridge. It was only a matter of time before they found him doing this. But he knew he couldn't let him see his body that had betrayed his loyalty to Snake. Originally, he was going to avoid seeing Snake until his own body was restored to its original state. He wondered if that might have backfired on him.  
The moment Ishmael radioed in; he could feel a cold sweat running down his back. Why at this moment? Ocelot thought. There was too little time to start a big cover-up.  
He was going to report back to him afterwards when it was all over. No, there was no need to report it. He thought he could just pretend it all didn't happen. He thought the child should be raised here. If the doctors refused to abort it, he could kill it himself. It would remain a secret to him and to Cipher. This place would be a good blindfold from them. We'll be out of sight from Snake. And it only is for ten months.  
Snake does not have capable of reproduction. In the unlikely event that his bodily functions are normal, He doesn't have the fertility to answer for it. Ocelot didn't know what the child in his belly was. The echo test clearly showed a human form. The doctors did not recommend X-raying it. So, Ocelot doesn't even know how the baby is growing in his belly.  
The baby is a girl, they said. Ocelot didn't know where she originated from, either. He couldn't rule out the possibility that the Patriots may have planted something in his body. Even if Snake, upon learning of this, felt it was proof of betrayal to him, Ocelot could not deny it.  
Who is she? He had wanted to do a genetic test to confirm it when she's born.  
At the first appearance of symptoms, Ocelot suspected his own false pregnancy. Because a woman under him had just been pregnant. I wondered if I cared about her that much. I also wondered if maybe he was jealous of her being able to conceive the child of the man she loved.  
After a while, his body began to experience severe nausea and sickness. He couldn't eat his food anymore. And his emotions became unstable and his chest swelled like little breasts. His body was rounder than before like woman's. He ached dully every time he bumped into an object or person. After a while, his belly began to visibly swell. His appetite increased and he began to eat enough for two people. In some rare cases, a man's false pregnancy can cause his belly to swell. After more than six months of hesitation, Ocelot turned to the medical staff for the first time when that happened.  
The obstetrician clearly told him, "You are pregnant." And they also said, "We can't abort her." Their faces were full of confusion.  
Ocelot had an idea about pregnant. But that certainty was nowhere to be found.  
Confused, he was aware of a noise in the distance. It was the legs of a staff member coming down the bridge steps. He reflexively tried to run up the stairs to escape in the opposite direction and knelt down with an awful pain running through his gut.

"U..... g....."

He looked up and saw a green laser light shining on his shoulder. Quiet is letting them know where he is.

"Are you okay?!"

He could see Venom's face peering at him with concern. Ocelot couldn't sit up with a pain in his abdomen and completely couldn't move.

"Hey! Quiet! Somebody! Bring the car!"

Someone from behind touched Ocelot's body as he sat on the edge of the bridge. It was the foot that had just come down the stairs. He lifted Ocelot's body easily.

"It certainly doesn't seem like a good time to be angry."  
"A ......g ......u ......"

The many excuses in Ocelot's mind faded into his pain. All he could do was cling to Snake's neck.

"This is HQ. Medical team D! Are you ready to accept patient? We're on our way now!”

Venom shouted into the transceiver as he took the wheel from the staff who had procured the car. Snake gently helped Ocelot into the car.

“Boss! You must come with us!”

At Venom's urging, Snake got into the car with a reluctant look on his face.

*

"No! Please wait! Bosses! Please calm down!"

In front of the operations room, the staff tried desperately to stop the two bosses.

"You guys! Calm down a little!"

Venom and Snake were poked in the gut by Miller's crutches and then punched in the face.

"I can't stay calm! Imminent premature labor?!"

They both yelled at the medical staff at the same time with the same face and the same voice.

"Y... yes sir. He has been showing signs for a while now. But he didn't listen to us. And we were ordered him not to mention it to Boss.”  
"He's an idiot!"  
"We told him you're both in danger, however, he didn't care about it."  
"Don't save asshole! Prioritize the child in his belly!"  
"What are you talking about! If he's gone, we're the ones in trouble! Help them both!"

Who has the decision!? The commander and sub-commander crowded the staff. The staff replied with a troubled look.

"As long as he has no blood relatives, his wishes will be respected in this. Sir.'

Snake, who had been silent for a long time, said quietly.

"Who put him through this? How did this happen?"

His low, calm voice brought tension to the scene. It was obvious to everyone that he was quietly angry.

"Now is not the time for that. We're doing emergency operation now."  
"You'll cut his belly?!"  
"We must do it. Sir!!"

Snake was silent again. He was speechless as he imagined a huge scar on his beautiful pale belly. The staff, who had looked nervous earlier, had defied their bosses. This was their workplace. This is their place of work. The staff member said firmly. The staff member said firmly, "Please be quiet," and went back into the operations room.  
Venom said, "Don't worry Boss. Here medical staff were got by me, so..."  
Venom put his scarred hand on Snake's shoulder. Ever since he'd realized something was wrong with Ocelot, he'd been the one running around the battlefield, gathering the best specialists. Thanks to this, the standard of medical care in the Mother Base had increased significantly over the past few months. But no matter how high the standard of care was, the doctors said, the risks were equally high in every case. And their opinion well understands by Venom, who was a doctor.

*

When Ocelot woke up, he saw the white ceiling. When he tried to move his body, he saw an arm that was IV. He touched his belly in a vague awareness. The weight of his belly that had been there a moment ago was gone. What happened to her? He didn't remember anything.  
The nursing staff noticed Ocelot awake and spoke to him.  
"Sir, don't worry. Get some rest."

His expression and tone of voice gave Ocelot a bitter feeling.

"Is my child ...."  
"Yes sir. She's a little immature, but she's a healthy girl who weighs over 6.7 pounds."

The nursing staff said, "Please call us if you need anything," and left the hospital room. Ocelot closed his eyes and thought. I don't have time for this. I have to do something about her soon.  
He pulled the needle out of the IV. It would continue to bleed if he didn't stop the bleeding. But he couldn't stop the bleeding well. He moved on wobbly legs to the door, but two staff members blocked his path. It was the Ocelot Unit.

"Sir, don't take out the IV without permission! Medic! Come quickly!"  
"The medical platform is guarded by the Ocelot Unit. You will rest until your body feels better."  
"Sorry, I have to go...."

Ocelot tried to get through there by force. But his body, dazed by the anesthesia, was still not free. Ocelot was carried like a piece of luggage and forced back to the bed.

"Don't worry, sir. Your lady will be protected by us."

(No, it's not ......)

Ocelot moved his mouth to refute the words, but the words were not voiced. The medic came over in a hurry to reattach the IV he had removed.

(I must quickly determine what she is, and in some cases, kill her.)

To Ocelot, she was no proof of love. It was an unidentified monster, so to speak. Even if genetic analysis revealed the identity of those parents, he didn't know if he could love her as a parent.  
However, misunderstanding Ocelot's hard-line attitude, the nursing staff brought in the baby.

"Sir, you can see the baby's face and even hold her if you like."

The nursing staff showed him the baby, saying she was tiny and very lovely. At first glance, it looked like a nondescript baby. But in a small voice, Ocelot told the staff to test a sample and her genes. The staff seemed puzzled by his words, but he said, "Yes sir," and left the hospital room.  
The hallway suddenly became noisy after the staff left. He could hear the medical staff and the Ocelot Unit shouting in his ears. They were arguing with each other, a voice he was used to hearing.

(Looks like the next trouble is coming.)

Ocelot thinks, slumbering. But contrary to his expectations, the only person who came in the room was the only one who came in. The person held Ocelot's hand, the one that wasn't on the IV.

"Boss...."

Venom seemed unsure of how to address him, but he said one word.

"How are you feeling?"  
"So... bad..."  
"Don't worry about us. You rest. It's my order. We've had enough of that."  
"...... But,"  
"IT'S MY ORDER. I'll manage it somehow. We're family. Aren't we?"

Venom said, "Rest," as if to remind him again, and left the hospital room. Just as Venom had said, it became quiet around the hospital room. Ocelot spent the rest of the night, sometimes slumbering in a daze and waking up in pain.

*

"That's enough..."

Venom said with a sigh as he stared blankly at the scene in front of him.  
Miller go purple with rage on his forehead and was angry, gritting his teeth as he applied an arthroscopic technique to Snake. In an attempt to stun Snake from behind, Miller's one arm gripped Snake's neck tightly. He then dexterously held Snake's legs in place with his prosthetic leg and his other leg. Snake was trying to pull off Miller's arthroscopic technique, with one arm and one leg bound. He said "we aren't fair" so, bound himself.

"Don't stop me! Boss!!!"

Miller angrily put all his strength into trying to strangle Snake. Realizing that it would be impossible to rip it off intact, Snake was trying to punch Miller, but with his unaccustomed crippled body, it was going to be difficult to do so. The troubled Snake gave Miller a head butt by using all his strength with the back of his head. Miller's arms were loose and Snake seemed to have the advantage. Snake looked at Miller and head-butted Miller as a final blow. Both of them had bloody noses.

"You.... stone skull.... bastard......"

Miller went straight into a coma. Venom holds his head. By the looks of him, it was probably a mild concussion from a headbutt. Exhaling roughly and wiping the blood from his nose, Snake stroked Miller's beaten face with his crutch cane and fists. Miller's beloved sturdy crutch cane was cruelly bent.  
Then Venom was also hit by Miller for the reason that he had realized the whole situation when he received Ishmael's radio call. He hit him twice. He was told that one hit was for that horrid wildcat. Miller was not a bastard enough to hit weakened body. Venom contacted the medical team over the radio.

"Medical team, treat two people..."

The recipient said, "Roger!" Venom sighed for the umpteenth time already as he received the resilient words.  
There was a small baby in a small neonatal room in the medical platform, placed in an incubator. It hadn't taken him more than a year to find out that there was a child to be born at Diamond Dogs. While some soldier was castrated due to the effects of the vocal cord parasites treatment, others were vigorous in the opposite direction. Basically, the staff at Mother Base prided themselves on their fitness. It was natural to have more children.  
Some of the children are growing up here. They are being raised "normally" on a dedicated platform during the day. Right now, there is only sub-primary institutions, but as they grew up, would there ever come a time when they would need primary, secondary and higher education institutions to accommodate them? Venom thought.  
And, they would spend their evenings with their parents, just like any other family. If they had parents. Some of them quit being soldiers because they became parents. But the Diamond Dogs, though unskilled, Venom thought, were definitely becoming a nation.  
The baby began to cry. A staff member rushed up to the incubator. The baby was being held and fondled by the staff, and the baby was forcefully holding a small bottle in her mouth. Venom's heart warmed to the fact that she was a preemie, he'd heard, but a dignified one.  
He turned around to see Snake, with a large poultice on his face, watching her quizzically.

"You don't find her pretty, do you?"  
"I can't think like that".  
"She has blonde hair like him. She's going to be a beauty in the future."  
"How did this happen?"  
"Boss. The staff said they're doing genetic testing on her. Your doubts would be almost going. It'll probably take a week or so for him to come back and for the test results to come back. Until then, we'll have to wait."

As they turned to leave the medical platform, they saw a soldier in a red beret taking a shift of security at the door of the hospital room.

"Would you like to go to him, sir?"  
"No. He's probably tired. Besides, we should not be meeting yet."  
"All right. We've readied a room for you. This way, please."  
"Yeah, thanks."

It was already dark around them. Snake saw with mixed feelings at the soldiers as they took their turns and returned to the waiting area.

*

The helicopter came back to the landing zone. That was two helicopters. One goes to the medical platform. The other descends to the command platform. The man who lands on the medical platform has a horn. It's Venom. Quiet was following behind him. She has an arm full of wild flowers. She handed a bunch of flowers to the medical team staff and used her hands to make cat ears behind her head that moved it like a cat to show them. The staff could tell by her cute gesture that it was telling them to give them to Ocelot.

"Okay. Thanks, Quiet."

Quiet gave a thumbs up, then ran towards Venom, bouncing like a rabbit, and then just disappeared. Venom could tell that she was curious about the little newcomer.  
Venom had heavy heart. During the week-long wait, Snake had offered to help with the mission. That in itself was a reliable thing to do. It would simply increase our strength. Having the two of them around made it easier to sway the enemy. In the same suit, the two would be almost indistinguishable from each other. Rumors of demons that appear and disappear out of nowhere on the battlefield are beginning to stand. But Snake is clearly not in a good mood. He's not the kind of guy who brings his emotions to a mission, but the tension he suddenly feels was a burden to Venom's, a more sensitive mind than Snake's.  
As Venom walked, DD sniffed and whined at his feet. Snake hasn't been taken DD to battlefield. Besides, Ocelot, the parent substitute, is in sickbay. Venom was also taking Quiet as a buddy more and more often, so he must be lonely.  
By nature, he loved to run everywhere on it, enjoying the scent of dirt and grass rather than walking on the nicely paved ground. Venom dropped to his knees and stroked the hair on his soft head. It soothed his heart; his DD seemed happy too. He is feeling a headache about the helicopter that descending to the command platform, Venom asked DD if he wanted to go exercise. When his master stood up, DD sensed something and wagged his tail furiously, pleased.  
Meanwhile, tension was in the air on the command platform. Snake was quietly training to fire. He was breaking more and more of the shortest records the more he did, probably because the more he did it, the more focused he became.

"Someone! Why don't you stay with my training?!

Snake then stunned many of the soldiers as he CQC them one by one as they volunteered to train. It didn't take long for the sub-commander to notice the anomaly as he came down the command platform after finishing his job.

"Snake! What the hell are you doing? They are not a tool to take out your frustrations!"  
"You want to come down here too? Let's pick up where we left off the other day. Or is my all-out effort being beyond your control?!"  
"Screw you!!"

As he was updating the staff data on iDOROID, the word Troublemaker appeared on Snake's status. Ocelot in sickbay was getting a headache at the sight of it. Quiet had brought him a lot of flowers earlier, and it had made his heart feel better.  
He had never thought of getting flowers for a visit from her, of all people. The wild flowers in the vase weren't gorgeous, but they reminded him of her with their warm loveliness.  
Ocelot thinks, Snake is so angry that he may be lost to himself. He's not the kind of person who always seems to resort to unprovoked violence. He's just a gentle man with a simple, crude side to him. The thought of loving that about him made Ocelot feel dark. Will there ever be a time when he will be able to calm down?  
Ocelot was proud to say that he had never let Snake down at any time in his life. Following his emotions was the same as following Snake will. It was the same with making the Phantom.  
That's why Snake is angry. He's madly angry. To him, it was like the signal fire of betrayal by someone who had never betrayed him before. Moreover, It's the cruelest way he's ever been treated.  
A medical staff member came into the hospital room and advised Ocelot, who was looking over some papers with iDOROID in hand. He took away Ocelot's terminal and papers, saying that he didn't know what he would be resting for if he was looking at the papers or receiving an operational radio. Then he said, "Here's this instead," and handed Ocelot a Walkman and some novels.

"If you'd like, would you like a picture books or a parenting book?"  
"No, thank you. This is all I need."

Ocelot politely declined the offer of a caring staff member.

"Did you get the results of the analysis?"  
"Yes, sir. That didn't want us to know, but the staff reported it to me."

Snake was in a room on the medical platform listening to Venom's report.

"So?  
"As a result, the girl is his relative. Specifically, she is his niece. And she is your child."  
"What? His niece? Isn't she his child? And you're telling me she's my kid? What was the medical staff think when they got these results! Don't make me laugh!"  
"Calm down! Please calm down. I understand that you are angry. But stay calm."

Venom calmed an enraged Snake. He must be remembering his past plans. Those children who caused him to part ways with the Cipher. For the past week every day, I've tried to calm down someone who is angry. Venom was starting to get weary. He was even more tired against Snake, if not other staff.

"First of all, you need to calm down. Boss, it’s been a long time since you were exposed to radiation at Bikini Atoll. Have you had a detailed examination recently?"  
"Detailed? I took it when I was young."  
"What have you done since then?"  
"I don't know, but it's possible that they're testing me on their own."  
"So, the results confirmed by you when you were a teenager?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Before blame him, let's go over your situation first. Can you do it?"  
"What did you say?!"  
"You had sex with him, didn't you! Isn't it?!"  
"You're kidding me!"

As they were arguing, there was a knock on the door of the room. Venom answered it. It was Ocelot standing at the door. He said.

"Boss. I'm sorry I've been absent for so long. And John... I apologize... about you had to come all the way out here. I have... no words for you."  
"Explain to me what happened."  
"It would be confusing if I explained it. I've brought my doctor. Please."

Ocelot invited his doctor into the room. The air in the room was very heavy. The doctor walked fearfully into it. Because of the two bosses had raged in this room earlier. Snake glanced at the doctor with his blue eye. The eye seemed to tell him that if he said the Inadequate explain, he wouldn't let him off the hook.

"Based on the sequence of events, and based on the results of the tests on a number of samples, his diagnosis of peritonitis and benign teratoma seems reasonable. In other words, he was a twin at one time in his mother's abdomen, sir."  
"Explain in layman's terms."  
"At the time of operations, we identified the mature internal organs of the twin sister in his abdomen. That is the ovaries and uterus. It had some deformities and some contractions due to hormonal imbalances, but it was functioning. In the sense that a symbiosis of organs with different genetic information is established, he is perhaps more like a chimera than a teratoma. But I'm ashamed to say that I've never personally seen this kind of precedent. However, I believe that the baby is the daughter of him and a blood sister, based on the genetic test results. Therefore, we have assumed that the result of the analysis is my niece. Of course, if this had not happened, the diagnosis would have been just a benign tumor. But in an unfortunate twist of timing, i.e., during the period of time that he was intercourse, he had a complication of peritonitis. He had an injury that penetrated the peritoneum and the intestinal wall. It is reasonable to assume that the semen probably reached the organs in the peritoneum from there through the intestinal wall. Boss, your anger is most understandable, but that's the only way to put the theory and the results together. If he hadn't forced ourselves to do this, I don't think it would have happened."

As he listened to the doctor's report, Ocelot remembered an uncomfortable feeling in his body that came to mind. Muscles that had been hard to build up since she was young. Thin body hair and fast-growing hair. He thought his body was constantly secreting a substance to promote this.

"Through a hole in the peritoneum beyond the intestinal wall? Ocelot. It's too dangerous. What are you going to do when you're dead?"

Venom called out to Ocelot in disgust. Peritonitis was supposed to be a huge pain, and he was even more dismayed to think that they had sex without a condom on as it was. Ocelot just kept quiet for his shame.

"I'm not convinced. I’m sterile, remember?"  
"Boss. You're not ready...."  
"Are you trying to tell I haven't tested it?!"  
"Of course. Otherwise, you can't explain it!"  
"Yes! You can explain! With the Cipher and its technology, there's no need to go through the hassle!"

Ocelot thought it was to be expected. It was obvious that he would doubt it. And he could imagine that he would think it was his own betrayal of Snake. So, he didn't want him to know.

"I make no excuses. John,"  
"I see. So, you just wanted my genes too?"  
"Yes. I've been wanting that so badly."

That's what Ocelot thinks about every time he had a sex with him. There was no pretense there. In anger, Snake grabbed Ocelot's collar and lifted him up.

"Are you satisfied now? It's the same thing all over again!"

For his excited attitude, Venom pinioned Snake. A staff member attended to a coughing Ocelot.

"Do you know what you're doing!? He's still not fully recovered!"  
"Stay out of my way!"

Snake tried to hit Venom in anger as he tried to stop him. Venom accepted his challenge. He had a week's worth of resentment built up. Even though he was a Phantom, he was the real boss here. His horns seemed to be getting bigger than usual.

"Calm down! Fool!"  
"Don't tell me what to do!"

Their right fists hit each other cleanly in the face. They are still punching each other. Ocelot had just come out of sickbay and didn't have a radio. He asked the medical staff to call his men. It took four soldiers in red berets to separate the two bosses.  
The medical staff asked Ocelot to go back to sickbay, but he refused. 

"Are you going back to work now? Sir."  
"Yeah."  
"So, what will happen to her then?"  
"I leave it to you. If he doesn't want her, she's an unwanted child."  
"Yes sir."  
"Sorry to bother you."

*

"This is what happens when you're a liar. You got what you deserve."  
Miller was standing at the entrance as Ocelot emerged from the medical platform building.

The commotion inside the building must have reached to the outside. The barking of the two bosses could still be heard echoing in the doorway. Ocelot scoffed to himself.

"Definitely."

He ignored Miller and walked on. I have to get my work done while I was absent. Ocelot thought.

"The intelligence team seemed to enjoy not having you around. They said it was easier to work without the hassle."  
"Uh huh."

Miller must be telling him not to worry about his job. Ocelot didn't stop walking, finding his nature more annoying than his wording.

"Hey!"  
"What?"  
"Did you ever hold your daughter properly?"  
"No."  
"You're big idiot. She's so pretty."  
"Hm."

Miller made a gesture to hold the baby in his not exist hand. He must have been allowed to hold her. From the looks of it, this man was surprisingly fond of children. Miller talked to him this and that, as if frustrated by Ocelot's lack of interest in the baby.  
Did you see her sleeping face? What's her name? He is a troublesome man, without even knowing how my feel. Ocelot thought.  
Human names get naturally to them as a matter of necessity, even if they didn't get them from their parents. Ocelot thought. Because he had been one himself. It could be that they were in fact given to him by his parents. But he hadn't been taught that, nor had his own parents ever called him by his name.  
The wound in his abdomen hurt as he walked. It wasn't just the surface of his abdomen. It was as good as having a piece of his internal organs removed. He thought he was used to the pain. But the doctor had said it was like being in a car accident. Had my mother run through that battlefield with such pain? Ocelot thought back to the distant memory of his mother.  
He had taken a single bullet in the gut on the mission before he met him that time. Still, Ocelot wanted to see Snake. The wound wasn't raw by the time he met him, and he'd had sex with him, thinking he'd be fine. For him, the joy of seeing Snake and physical connecting with him again was greater than the pain. So, he hadn't expected that to be the case. The more he thought about it, the worse the pain got. It wasn't just his abdomen. His back and chest hurt badly, too. Ocelot collapsed on the deck, literally painfully aware of his mother's greatness.  
Miller's voice shouting into the transceiver sounded distant, and Ocelot felt it very noisy.

*

"So, we told you take care of yourself yet."

Ocelot was back in the hospital room he had been in yesterday. Unusually for a womanless household, a female staff member was working handily beside the bed today.

"Sorry,"  
"Does it hurt your chest?"  
"Yeah, it's hot."  
"This is a ...... breast that is almost inflamed. You haven't held your baby in your arms yet, have you? What did the staff say until now?"  
"They didn't say anything."  
"Have they left you alone all these days? I can't believe it! Please be patient for a moment."

The female staff put their hands into Ocelot's chest and plucked at his hardened nipple. Ocelot was surprised that because he had never been touched by women a sensitive place before, but the pain was more intense.

"Oh. Your shoulders and breasts so stiff! This is no good! Sir!"

At the same time, Ocelot shuddered at the changes in his body caused by female hormones. His breasts were producing breast milk.  
All this time he had left his personal affairs to the male staff. Graciously, they had never been touched the breasts their superior, nor did they know the details of how to care for them. How ignorant they were, Ocelot thought, that they were supposed to be the best and brightest of the staff.

"It might hurt a bit, but I'll massage it."

The female staff asked him to sit face away from her and began to massage his back, shoulders and little breasts. He had been lying down for the last few days, so it was pleasant to be rubbed on his back and shoulders, and he was glad of her considerate.  
In the meantime, another staff member came in with a baby. Ocelot hesitated to hold her, but the female staff threatened to make your body hurt more if you left it there. But if he held her, heart would ache with guilt for Snake. It would hurt whether he held her or not. Ocelot supported the little body with unaccustomed hands.

"You must nurse like this as often as possible while you are in pain. It will be better for you. If you stop breastfeeding, we can switch to formula."

The female staff was very adept at it. Ocelot's breast held her and the baby is suckling innocently.

"She has a great appetite,"  
“Yes, sir. This girl is a good. She drinks well, sleeps well, and excrete well. She is a genius."  
"Genius? It’s an exaggeration."  
"No, sir. A lot of babies these young can't drink and sleep and get it out well. This girl drinks well, but there are a lot of babies who can't suck the nipple. They don't poop well, or they don't sleep unless we hold them all the time. But that's normal. She's still so little. However, she can do it all. She's amazing."

Was it because she was Snake's child? Ocelot felt his lost attachment to the child return. A small mouth sucking on his milk, a small hand like a marshmallow. A small weight and warmth in the scent of the milky baby. Ocelot smiled. It was strange, he thought.

"Boss!"

The staff salutes. Venom, with several plasters on his face, swept in through the door of the hospital room. With that, the staff left the room. Venom, who had a sullen look on his face, was suddenly awed when he realized what was going on inside the hospital room.

"Oh, sorry! No ... its ... I’ll be back later!"

Ocelot smiled a little at Venom, who was about to leave the room in a big way, and said.

"It's okay. I don't care."

Still, Venom sat down in the chair beside the bed, looking a little awkward, but curious.

"She's so cute..."

Venom looked at the baby sucking at his chest, deep wrinkles etched into his eye sockets age-appropriate. She was probably closer to his grandson's age than his child. His eye seemed be somewhat dazzling as he stared at the baby.

"I think so, too."

Venom was relieved to see Ocelot smiling at that. He had heard that he hadn't shown the slightest interest in the child during his five days of vacation.  
As he did so, the baby left his chest. He could see his womanly colored nipples and his modestly taut breasts. It was too tempting for him. Venom averted his gaze so as not to be rude to him and began to speak.

"I've decided to make sure Boss gets a proper examination. That stubborn bastard."

On his face's some sticking plasters would be an honorable injury. But Venom still didn't seem to have hit Snake enough.

"I'm really sorry for all the trouble I've gotten into. But I can't help but feel for him."

Venom was annoyed by Ocelot's insistence on protecting Snake.

"Did you do something wrong? Did you conspire with the Cipher, as he says, to create another ridiculously warrior soldier? She is a girl!"  
"It doesn't matter what gender. You don't know amazing ability female sniper? I don't blame him for thinking that."  
"Wasn't he the one who forced you to have rough sex with him? And this is the result! What's so important about a man like that?!"

The baby, who had nearly fallen asleep from a full stomach, cried out in surprise at his yelling. Venom gave them a look that said he had failed. Ocelot was about to pick up the baby and lightly shake it with an unaccustomed hand, trying to fudge it, when she spat the milk she had just consumed into his face.

"Wow..."  
"Medic! Medic!"

The baby just threw up and confused the respectable adults for a while. Ocelot regretted that he had been so wrapped up in his work while the baby was in his belly that he was completely unprepared for the knowledge of childcare. Because he didn't think the child in his belly was related to him by blood, nor did he plan to hold any affection for it.  
Immediately the staff he mentioned earlier rushed in and said, "Didn't you let her burp!?" She scolded them. "I don't know how to make her do it," Ocelot said. Then the staff showed them dumbfounded look on her face. The staff held out a wet towel to Ocelot and deftly cleaned up the area before returning to the staff room with the baby in their arms.  
Ocelot chuckled as he wiped the milk he had been being thrown up on. Venom also wiped him with the extra wet towel he was given as he said, "Sorry." Then he said.

"Listen, Ocelot. The boss has ......obviously a low dose of radiation exposure."  
"A low?"  
"If a human being is exposed to a quantity of radiation that results in permanent spermlessness, there is usually obvious damage beyond the gonads. It's no wonder that mucous membranes, internal organs, and even the eyeballs are more symptomatic. Have the Patriots done a thorough examination of him?"  
"I think they did. They are required to do their duty on a regular basis. He's supposed to be in perfect physical condition, except for his reproductive health."  
"Has he had a complete reproductive checkup?"  
"I don't know. He had refused to be tested to have a child. Maybe He didn't want to see the results. Maybe the Patriots had women take samples and test them in secret, but he was wary of that, too. But that was more than a decade ago."  
"It may be unlikely, given his age, but the result is this. Perhaps the frequent use of the gonads over the past few years has brought back some ability."  
"Are you trying to tell it was a natural conception?"  
"Yes. What would you do if you were to have a child with the Cipher's technology? Were you going to give birth here with impunity and pretend you didn't know?"  
"No way. I'm not that stupid. If I harvest his genes, I'll hide with the Cipher's help."  
"Right. By the way, that's the average amount of semen that comes out in one sitting. What do you think of this?"

Venom took out a small container and showed it to Ocelot.

"Huh?"  
"It's either more or less semen than this one he's always producing."  
"Oh...a... Boss..."  
"Don't be shy! The reason I'm being beaten up and it's him sperm! This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"  
"Um... sorry..."

Ocelot recalls. The amount of semen that would come out of his mouth with his penis in his mouth, and the amount of semen that would come out of his ass after the act. Always, once he reached his climax, no one unstoppable him. The amount of sperm coming out of his anus would be unreliable because he always was put out into his belly twice or three times.

"But maybe, I don't think such a small quantity,"

Ocelot looked sideways at the small container and looked away. An amount of rough estimate, but not wrong, he thought. And he stopped trying to remember what he had done over a decade ago.  
Venom fiddled with the small container in his hand and said slowly.

"Ocelot. You know. The snake repeatedly moults. Molting is a curious thing. For example, arthropods renew themselves. All of cut legs and damaged internal organs. I've never heard of such a remarkable snake. But you may know the snake."  
"Internal organs...? No way..."  
"I'd like to know what kind of a molt the snake had after lying dormant for nine years. Huh?"  
Venom left sickbay, he said, I'll get Snake tested, even if it was by force, and you must rest your body.  
Ocelot was irresistibly concerned about the baby. For the first time he felt the urge to go check on her. When he left the hospital room, a member of the Ocelot Unit was standing alone. Ocelot felt embarrassed when he told them what happened and they said they would follow him. As they went to the nursery, they saw a silhouette with a cane among the medical staff. It was Miller, who was trying to cover his face by his hand and sticking out his tongue and deforming his face or making strange noises, toward the female staff held the baby up.  
The baby had a wondering look on her face, as if he didn't understand what he was being shown. On the other hand, the female staff was laughing hysterically. It was a noisy, Ocelot thought.  
When Miller noticed them, he said, "Oh..." and became very angry. He is strange guy. Ocelot smiled.

"If it's all right with you, would you like to bottle-feed her some milk?"

“I was about to do it now and Sir Miller was interrupting me," the female staff member said, gushing as she remembered what had just happened.  
The subordinate who followed him said he would guard the door, but when I asked if Ocelot could come in, the female staff said he could if he would sanitize it. Because he seemed want to see the baby's face more than Ocelot himself. The baby, whose stomach was empty from vomiting earlier, her small mouth was drinking of formula as hard as she could.

"Wow she is so cute and so tiny."

The soldier seemed impressed. He held out a finger and her small hand grasped it back. He let out an exclamation of admiration.

"Oh my... princess ......!"  
"Don't call her princess."

Ocelot got a troubled look on her face. It was too embarrassing for her to be called a princess.  
But she is a human bond, Ocelot thinks, at just a week old. Normally, Miller or the Ocelot Unit would not be in the medical team platform like this. According to the medical staff, even the other staff who heard the rumors have been wandering around in front of the nursery under the guise of temporary illnesses and breaks, chased away by the Ocelot Unit on guard.  
Does she look like Snake? Or does she look like my mother, Ocelot wondered. But his men said.

“She's your lady. We are compelled to call her princess."  
"Me ......?"  
"They want to see her face because she's your daughter. Sir Miller, isn't that right?"  
"Yes! A children's worth does not depend on their parents."  
"Sir ..."

Miller had lived from an early age with a bloodline that could be described as a curse to his parents. In a sense, he was the exact opposite of Ocelot. From an early age, the bloodline had been something for Ocelot to be proud of. But now it was a curse. This child is inheriting the blood of The Boss and Big Boss. It was too heavy a curse to pass on to the next generation. If he said that to Miller, he would be furious. But his words made Ocelot feel a little saved. It didn't matter whose blood was in the child's veins. Would the world allow that to happen?  
But the female staff member who had been watching Miller said.

"But sir, you've never been present at another staff member's birth, have you?"  
"Shut up! Shut up! That's not the same as this!"

Miller walked out of the nursery angrily, as if he is in a bad temper uncomfortable. He turned around several times and shouted on the way out. "Learn how to burp her! Practice bathing! Learn to change her diaper!" and all sorts of other things.

"He's a picky guy,"  
"He really loves babies. I didn't know that."

The Ocelot Unit soldier was happy to hear a happy and embarrassed voice as the baby wouldn't let go of his finger in Ocelot arms.  
Leaving the baby in a good mood with the staff, Ocelot returned to sickbay.  
Snake was smoking a cigar in the smoking room. The Mother Base was large, but the number of places to smoke was dwindling rapidly. It was for the baby. Snake had no choice but to follow the rules, however wondering how this kind of smoke could reach a child who was being put in an incubator. Still, the smoking room was comfortable, probably due to the fact that Boss was a smoker. It was air-conditioned and had a sofa to relax on. There was also an ashtray that was always clean, though he didn't know who was cleaning it.  
The door to the smoking room opened and a large man walked in. It was Venom. He sat sluggishly in front of Snake as he lit a phantom cigar and looked sluggish in front of him. Snake, on the other hand, was skeptical of cigars other than the brand he liked.

"Is that stuff good?"  
"Yeah, not bad. It doesn't smell so bad and clean."  
"Nothing is worse than a clean about cigar."

An examination of Snake could begin at any time. But Snake didn't make his attitude clear for any length of time. He was grumpy to look at, and Venom reminded him.

"Don't run away"  
"Run away?"  
"Are you afraid?"  
"What?"  
"About that might have betrayed you."  
"It's not that might have betrayed. It's a betrayal."  
"What makes you think that? Don't you think it's your fault? Maybe I overestimated you, not being able to admit your own mistakes."  
"What did you say?"  
"Most men usually regret impregnating their partner before he realized it. But what are you doing? Who the hell do you think you are old enough to know better? What do you blame for natural conception? Who can you blame? If I had to say, the person to blame most is you, the one who's ignorant of yourself. Don't you?"

Venom exhaled a puff of phantom cigar smoke. The amount of smoke that seemed to work well enough to look good.  
The words made Snake feel as if he'd been poured cold water over his head. If everything the doctor said was true, then Snake had done something irreparable to Ocelot. But having been shown several false truths in the past, Snake no longer had the means to weigh whether they were true or not. The world as seen through Ocelot had always been Snake's truth. He didn't know who he could trust now that he had lost the filter that should be trusted. Still, Venom seemed to really trust him.

"Like the doctor said, it's a natural pregnancy. Shall we bet? I bet you what's going on your body. I'm a doctor, too. If you're right...”  
"What if I'm right?"  
"I’ll take your daughter and the traitor. You don't need them, do you? I want them both. A good subordinate and a pretty girl. And he is so sexually attractive "woman". Either way, if you don't want them, I'm taking them. I can feed them as my family here, instead of whatever it is you've got going on out there. And... I want more children."

Venom gave an unusually erotic smile. It wasn't the way he spoke, as if he was joking. Snake's face soured when he saw it. Venom laughed, wondering if you still had a crush on that one. Then he leaned back on the couch comfortably and exhaled smoke.

"You think an idiot is a traitor for having sex without a condom when he has a wind hole in his abdomen?"  
"I wasn't aware of that."

Snake said in a voice that seemed to squeeze out of his stern face. He seemed regretful that he hadn't noticed.

"He was going to die,"  
"Huh?"  
"He was going to die with the child at the drop of a hat. He knew you'll not be easy to clear himself of the charge. So, he ran away. That's why he didn't want you to know he was in premature labor. How long have you been associating with that? Don't you get it? Too dull.”

The room was filled with cigar smoke that was not sure which one it is. The two men were silent for a long time, mouthing and exhaling cigar smoke.  
Snake thought about Ocelot. He should have lived a long life. But maybe he had lived a long life and his eyes had been clouded at some point in time, he thought. Hadn't the essence of Ocelot always been Snake's own, from the first time they had met? Whether it was when he'd found out who his mother was, when Snake had slipped away from the Patriots, when he'd stared at the sleeping Snake for nine years, when he'd created the shadow that was Venom and prepared an escape route. That time, that time, and that time, Snake thought.  
And if the results of that genetic test were true, then the baby was not the clone that was created regardless of his intentions at the time. That was the result of Snake having sex with him of his own volition. And that child will be "her" granddaughter.  
"Her" granddaughter. The word became a huge rough storm in Snake's mind.  
And his eyes always came to gaze single-mindedly at Snake. Remembering this, Snake felt bitter.

(I may have lost my eyes.)  
I'd been relying on him too much and had somehow forgotten to see for myself.  
Venom, who was smoking a cigar in front of him, let out a humph and a snort. Smoke came out of both nostrils as well.

"Well, either way, if you don't like it, there's no need to inspect it. You can leave tomorrow. But instead I'll never let you meet with the girl or that. I'll be her father. You've got a job to do. So, do we too."

Snake glared with like shooting at Venom, who was now speaking as an equal.

"Wait."  
"What?"  
"That is mine."

Venom sneered at Snake's words.

"Then jackoff once today. We can inspect it the day after tomorrow."

And with that he walked out of the smoking room.

*

The sun was shining brilliantly on the deck of the Mother Base that day. It was their tactical instructor, walking with the heels of his spur spurted boot. He walked leisurely among the many staff members who were continuing their firing training. He corrected the angle of the staff's elbows and shoulders, which were not hitting the center of the target easily, and called out to them.

"Fire."

After confirming that the results were better than earlier, he said, "Next." On the opposite side of the target, a single parasol, yellow flowers on blue cloth, disproportionate to the training scene, was spread out. Underneath it was a baby bouncer and a chair, with a lone Ocelot Unit soldier waiting beside it.  
The baby begins to squirm in a small voice.

"Keep shooting,"

He said and sat down under the parasol and asked his men to take over the instruction. He picked up the baby and checked the diaper. When he checked the baby's hunger, he bares his chest. The staff is looking at the opposite side of the target from them. The slightly familiar gesture made Ocelot feel happy. He gently stroked the baby's back and wiped the small, milk-stained mouth with a soft cloth. He then turned his attention to the staff as they trained. It was strange to see a child growing up next to a people training to kill people. Most of all, his mother couldn't hold and feed her son or caress his back like this.  
A radio call comes in to iDOROID. It was from Venom. He said that Snake's test results were in.

"Sorry, I'm a little late. My hands are tied now."  
"OK."

Ocelot slowly feed the baby and put the baby in a baby sling. He then left the rest of his training with his men and headed to the medical platform.  
When he was ushered into the room, Venom and Snake were waiting for him along with the doctor who brought the test results. Venom came to visit him in sickbay, but it had been a long time since he'd seen Snake face to face. Ocelot was a little nervous.

"You're here. Then let's get started."

Venom urged the doctor.  
Venom on the couch in the center of the room, Snake and Ocelot sat face to face across him.

"Are you going to listen to that too?"

Snake complained. He frowned, saying it was a private matter.

"What do you think your private life has done to me? I got punched in the face repeatedly. Not just to you. Kaz. And your lower body issues will be effecting my life."

Snake seemed to have no words to say back. The doctor said, "May I begin?". Instead of the two strangely testy snakes, Ocelot asked the doctor to start talking.

"Then ......"

The doctor's test results were just as Venom had expected. Originally that was supposed to require several tests over the course of a month, but in his case, it only took one. We don't know what his past symptoms were, so we can't compare them, but that's the extent of the symptoms he's been experiencing. Snake held his temples with his hand on the armrest of the couch as he watched the micrographs and videos of the samples, and he looked bitter the whole time.

"The numbers are so much better than Boss's age average. Basically, these cells are constantly being made. Assuming that his cells were normal before the accident, they were depleted by the temporary error of exposure to radiation, but they are now close to normal again as he continues to make them in moderation."  
"Wow...that’s something. I bet you could get over the intestinal wall with this one, couldn't you?"  
"Boss, don't ... embarrassing ..."  
"Oh sorry. That was rude."

For a short time, Ocelot thought that Venom was starting to look somewhat like Snake, perhaps because of the time he spent with him. That was encouraging to say the least, but it was a bit too wild for this mother base.  
The number of studies on the transitions of radiation sickness is still very small. The number of people living with radiation exposure is small. There is a high ethical hurdle to overcome in researching how symptoms manifest themselves at what doses of radiation in the human body, much less how they manifest themselves after thirty years of exposure.  
There has never been a large-scale follow-up study, much less one that follows people thirty years after exposure. No one knows what life was like for the soldiers at Bikini Atoll at the time, let alone what life is like for those who were involved in the same operation. There are many different types of exposure, from temporary exposures such as Snake, to residents who have lived in the area for long periods of time, to external exposure from radioactive materials and internal exposure from the uptake of those materials.

"Please be careful about having sex with women in the future. John..."

Ocelot turned down and muttered to himself. Then he thanks the doctor who let him knew the results and he left the room with his baby. He knew that he couldn't do anything about it if there was doubt in Snake's mind, no matter the outcome.

"Boss. I heard from Kaz that there is a Japanese way of apologizing called Dogeza."  
Venom looked over his back at Ocelot as he went out into the hallway and said to Snake.  
"What's that?"  
"I've heard that Japanese cheating husbands kneel down and apologize forehead and hands on the floor to their wives."  
"It's something that's going to piss me off either way."

Venom saw Snake's back as he trudged out of the room with heavy face. It looked so small that it was a lie that he was really Boss.  
Venom left the medical team platform after checking with the doctor to see if they had handled a similar sample recently, i.e., if there had been any mistake or contamination of Snake's sample.  
The doctor's answer was clear.  
A fresh breeze blew across the deck. Ocelot brushed up his messy hair with his hand. The sun was blinding. To a thin-skinned baby, this UV light would be harmful. He adjusted the sling cloth into a sunshade as keep the baby from breathing hard. "The baby is a good girl," he remembered the medical staff saying. He didn't know the other babies in detail. But for no reason at all he thought this was a really good girl.

"Shall we go? Cutie."

He unconsciously talks to the baby. Come to think of it, this might be the first time He's ever spoken to her like this.

"Adam,"

Ocelot turned around. Snake was stood on the deck. He was blowing in the sea breeze, he looks dazzled.

"Can you give me some time now?"  
"Yeah."

The sun was strong. Ocelot led Snake into the cool shade and sat down on the hard ground. Snake sat beside him and care his body.

"Is your body still not feeling well?"  
"No. It's too much UV light for this girl to be exposed to."

His profile looked like a fine parent for Snake. 

"...I'm really sorry,"

Snake murmured. Even if He apologize, he can't apologize enough.

"I was so focused on myself that I didn't look at you properly,"  
"It's only natural. John. You've been betrayed far too much so far. And I also have betrayed you."  
"Not at all."  
"No difference. I knew you didn't want the child."  
"I was overconfident in the test results when I was young and never considered birth control until now. I knew it was a risk for both of us. All my fault."

Snake spun his words with looked ashamed of his words and actions.

"I was got a good scolding from Venom."  
"Boss?"  
"He's dependable guy. Maybe he's better suited to be a father than I am..."

Venom made it very clear then that "I'll be her father." On the other hand, Snake still didn't have that kind of resolve. He bit his lip and turned his head down in disbelief. He was not able to even make the man next to him happy, let alone be her father.

"John. Would you forgive me...?"

Sad eyes stared at him as if they were clinging to him. Snake frowned at the pain in his chest. It was Snake himself who had driven Ocelot, who had been unreasonably impregnated the baby, to the point where he was ready to die.

"That's what I have to say. Adam. Please forgive me."

Snake touched Ocelot's cheek, thinking that he may be would be rejected. He didn't want to let him go. He could see the collar he had grabbed in anger that time. Even getting a sunburn his chest still looked bright in comparison to the red scarf. And the baby sleeping peacefully under them.

"John..."

Ocelot closed eyes. Snake looked his long eyelashes. At his flowery temptation, Snake hesitantly kissed him. It was the first time in a year. When Ocelot responded to the kiss, Snake couldn't resist and held him by the shoulders and kissed him enthusiastically. But as he did so, the baby between them cried out in a soft voice, so Snake hurriedly left away Ocelot's body.

"Oh ... bad ..."

Ocelot fondled the baby with his accustomed hands and said with a wistful look on his face.

"I remind of my mother..."

It was the same with Snake. She was a woman who had given not only herself but also her family to her country. She died without having her son in her arms.

"I feel really sorry to her..."

Ocelot muttered.

"No. She's her grandmother. She's probably surprised in the other world right now. You'd better hold her instead of her."

It had happened by some strange coincidence, unbeknownst to anyone in the belly of the woman who was his mother.

"Would you like to hold her too?"  
"Me..?"  
"Yeah. You're her father."

Snake took the baby in his hand in an unfamiliar way. It was as awkward as if he had put it in his hand rather than held it.

"Support her neck, please... Good."  
"If I put a little pressure, she might break."  
"Yeah. It was hard for me to get used to it at first, too."

As Ocelot said this, he removed the baby sling from his body, stretched, and turned his shoulders. The joints in his shoulders snapping.

"Phew... leaving the child in your care makes me feel better. Thanks."  
"Oh... Is it like that?"  
"When I'm carrying her, always nervous about what's going to happen. My chest hurts and shoulders are stiff."

For the past few days, the babies had been left in the care of the medical or educational staff, depending on the nature of the job, but basically, Ocelot himself was taking care of her. The staff were all happy to take care of the baby, but he didn't want to be bothered the staff so much.  
Besides, Ocelot had developed a much deeper affection for her than he had originally thought. So, it was more of a support to him than anything else that he had a lot of professional staff who were willing to give him a helping hand while everything was in limbo. It must have been difficult to raise her by himself.

"I can't believe I'm a father. It doesn't feel real yet."  
"Me neither."  
"Even though you gave birth to her?"  
"Yes. I don't feel it at all. They say it's like that."  
"That is what it is."

Snake looked at the baby in his arms. She was sleeping peacefully. Newly born, short blonde hair, a little pointy nose. And a tightly knotted little mouth with the corners of her mouth down. It reminded Snake of Ocelot's appearance twenty years ago when he was young, and he smiled with a troubled look on his face. Ocelot wondered what was going on when he saw Snake suddenly burst out laughing as he looked at the baby's face.

"She's just like you,"  
"Her eyes and ears look like yours."  
"Is that so?"  
"Yeah."  
"It's strange."

Thinking like that made him think the child was cute. Snake gently touched the sleeping baby's round cheeks. The rose-colored cheeks felt like they would fall apart if he didn't touch them as gently as possible.

"Have you chosen a name for her?"  
"No. Not yet."  
"Why?"  
"I wish you had thought of that, if you don't mind."

Snake pondered as he looked at the baby's face. Many names came and went. He compared the baby's and Ocelot's faces. He wondered what the baby's face would look like in the future.

"She'll be beautiful in the future."

Snake remembered Venom's words. Then he would have to give her a name worthy of a beautiful woman. He made full use of his brain's database to try to find that special one.

"Wait. I can't decide right away."

Ocelot smiled a small smile at Snake, who was staring at the baby's face with a serious look on his face.

"Do you started wanting to more children?"

Snake looked at Ocelot.

"No. I never want to let hurt your gut again."  
"There are plenty of women who could produce without me."  
"It's not worth if it's not with you."

Snake came closer to Ocelot's face, holding the baby. Ocelot moved his face closer to him in response.  
In the end, they hadn't settled on a name for her during Snake's stay.

*

A helicopter hovered in the landing zone. Soldiers salutes and see him off. Venom stopped in front of Snake. Snake tried to get into the helicopter and turned back to Venom. He was really bothered by him.

"I really bothered you,"  
"That's exactly."

Venom looked dumbfounded, but it looked refreshed. Snake glanced at the man behind him and turned his attention to Venom again and said.

"Take care of them."  
"Yeah. But don't forget."  
"What?"  
"Our bet. If you don't want them, I'll take all."  
"Okay, then come to kill me. You're always welcome."  
"I see."

The two bosses laughed.  
Snake gets into the helicopter looks down at Ocelot, who is looking up at the helicopter as it rises and wave his hand lightly.  
He couldn't decide on a name for his daughter at all. Venom laughed at a distressed Snake, saying that he was starting to be a parent spoil the kid. Miller said that's called 'Oyabaka' in Japanese. It means foolish and unhelpful parent for their children. Snake told Ocelot that he would contact her once he had decided on a name for her. He had her picture stuffed into a special terminal. He could be a real 'Oyabaka'.  
Ocelot said as he held the baby in his arms.

"I'd be glad if I could give you something to do with your life while I'm alive."

But I couldn't even count the number of things he already gave me. Snake thought.  
Ocelot thought as he looked off the helicopter, which was getting smaller and smaller.  
There's very small I can always do for him.  
He had never forgotten the helplessness he had felt during the nine years Snake had been unconscious. At the very least, he filled the room with his beloved flowers. Because Ocelot thought that if he was surrounded by so many flowers filled with memories, Snake might wake up.  
It was the only thing he could do then. But not now. He hadn't expected to be involved in Snake's life like this. It wasn't just cut flowers that Ocelot could give him now.  
Ocelot is walking back from the helipad to his private quarters with his hair hanging over his ear. There was no sound of crying or anything else coming from the radio he left on beside her, but by the time he returned to his room, her diaper might be wet.  
He stretched his arms as he walked. His shoulders were stiff and in need of exercise.  
But he had a lot to think about. What can I do for the Diamond Dogs? And what can I do for him and what can I do for her?  
Ocelot looked up at the sky. The blue was so bright. And He thought I could do anything for them.  
It's in lieu of flowers.

【END】


End file.
